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1 2013 Last Minute Tips To Ace The IELTS Exam Bonus Offer With IELTS Twenty20 Course A guide for anyone who wants to score Band 7+ in IELTS If you don t have a lot of time to prepare for IELTS and you NEED to score Band 7 or above in IELTS, don t worry, this guide will help you do exactly that. IELTS Online Practice Study 20 minutes a day for 20 days & achieve success in IELTS. Sign up on 1/1/2013

3 How To Use This Guide Last Minute Tips To Ace The IELTS Exam 3 This guide is meant to be used in conjunction with the IELTS Twenty20 online Course. It contains a summary of the best strategies and techniques mentioned in the course for quick reference. The best way to use this guide is to print it out and paste it on a board where you can read it any time you want. Go over the techniques and strategies as many times as possible before the exam so that they become second nature. I guarantee you that if you follow even 50% of the strategies mentioned in this guide you will score band 7 or above. If you feel that you are struggling with any specific IELTS module don t wait too long to ask for help. I have a team of some of the best IELTS teachers from around the world who can help you 1-on-1 via Skype. Simply me at for special member discounts.

4 Band 7+ Strategies for IELTS General Training - Writing Task 1 1. First off, read & understand the purpose of the letter for Writing Task Recognize the type of letter and decide if it is a formal letter or informal letter. 3. Begin and end your letter appropriately. 4. Identify an appropriate tone for the letter and use it consistently throughout the letter. 5. Cover all key bullet points mentioned in the question and explain them clearly and appropriately. 6. Use a wide range of grammatical structures and vocabulary. 7. Write the letter in paragraphs. No bullet points or short notes. 8. Write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words. 9. Spend no more than 20 minutes on Writing task 1 so that you have 40 minutes for Task 2. Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1 and so you must spend more time on Task 2.

5 Band 7+ Strategies for IELTS Academic Training - Writing Task 1 1. Always write an introduction however do not merely copy the words from the question as your introduction. rephrase the question and use synonyms instead Highlight the key features in the figure using statistics and percentages and explain them clearly and appropriately. However do not include every single detail in the figure. 3. Pay special attention to the units. 4. Organize key points into paragraphs. No bullet points or short notes. 5. Do not analyse the data based on your assumptions and never give personal opinions to describe the charts 6. Always write an overview at the end. Use "To sum up" instead of "In conclusion" for the overview. 7. Write at least 150 words in your report but no more than 200 words. 8. Spend no more than 20 minutes on Writing task 1 so that you have 40 minutes for Task 2. Task 2 is worth twice as much as Task 1 and so you must spend more time on Task Use a wide range of grammatical structures and vocabulary. 10. Make effective comparisions and use a variety of linking words: FIRSTLY, SECONDLY, AFTER THAT, NEXT, FINALLY

6 Band 7+ Strategies For IELTS Writing Task 2 (General & Academic Training) 1. First off, read & understand the topic of the essay for Writing Task Identify all the key parts of the question. 3. Brainstorm and organize your ideas to ensure that each of your ideas is fully explained and well supported with examples. 4. If the question asks for your opinion, make sure you state it clearly and you don t contradict that view throughout the rest of the essay. 5. Learn the structure of an essay: Introduction, body paragraphs, conclusion 6. Do not copy the question word for word for your introduction or else those words will be deducted from your total word count. Instead always paraphrase the question in your own words. 7. You MUST write a conclusion/overview at the end. Don t add new information in your conclusion. Instead, rephrase your key points, and give a strong ending sentence that ties everything together. 8. Always write in a formal tone and use it consistently throughout the essay. 9. Do not use bullet points or short notes. 10. Use a wide range of grammatical structures and vocabulary. 11. Remember to follow the 4 C's of essay writing.

7 12. Practice and learn synonyms so your writing has a range of vocabulary and does not become repetitive. 13. Write at least 250 words. Anything less, you will lose marks.ideally the essay should be about words Write neatly, as the person who is marking your essay should be able to easily read and understand what you have written. 15. Do Task 2 first, as it is worth twice as much as Task 1, so priority should be placed here. 16. Practice makes perfect. Write as many practice essays as you can, and have them marked by an English teacher for mistakes. 17. Practice timing yourself at home, and stick to the allotted time for each section. During the real test, bring a watch and manage your time carefully. 18. Check your writing. If you finish with extra time, look over your essay for any spelling, grammar, or other mistakes you might find.

8 Band 7+ Strategies For IELTS Speaking Test (General & Academic Training) 1. Listen carefully to the examiners question and take a moment to identify the main subject Answer the examiners questions directly by addressing the main subject of the question. 3. Give full answers and explain each idea in detail. 4. Speak for at least 2 minutes for Speaking Part 1. However do not exceed 4 minutes. 5. Don't take long pauses between words to gather your thoughts. Keep AAHs, UMMs to a mininum. 6. If you can't remember a word, use alternative words to describe it and move on. 7. Dont highlight your mistakes by constantly self-correcting and apologizing for them. 8. Don't speak to fast. Your aim should be 150 words per minute. 9. Each day listen, read and think in English for at least 1 hour. 10. For Part 2 - You have 1-minute to prepare before speaking. Use this to organize your thoughts 11. Don't sound flat and monotonous. Change your tone, pitch, volume and intonation while speaking.

9 12. Display confidence while speaking. Remember to follow the 5 S's of confident speaking: Smile, Stance, Sound, Speed, Sight (eye contact). 13. Use a range of vocabulary in the proper context Link your ideas together in a logical order. 15. Make yourself easy to understand. 16. Use contractions to speak complex sentences fluently 17. Don't ramble and go off topic. In most cases, if you speak for too long, examiners will cut you off to move to the next question. This is not impolite, they are just trying to manage the time for you. 18. Always be respectful to the examiner. Treat the test like a job interview. dress smartly. Greet the examiner when you enter the room and say "thank you" and "good bye" when you leave.

10 Band 7+ Strategies For IELTS Reading Test (General & Academic Training) 1. Always read the instructions for answering the questions carefully. If your answers are not according to those instructions then you will loose marks Although it is a reading test, do not immediately start reading the passages. Always read the questions first and make a mental note of what you will be looking for in the passage. 3. Learn to skim and scan the text for information rather than reading each word. read the first and last sentence of each paragraph to get the gist of the paragraph. 4. Each reading question is worth 1 mark. So if you get stuck on a question just skip it and come back to it later. 5. The 3 reading passages progress in difficulty, with first being the easiest and third the hardest. So first reading passage should take not more than minutes. 6. Don't forget to fill out the answer sheet. You do not get extra time to copy your answers to answering sheet and so you need to do it in the 60 minutes that you have. 7. You may write in pencil only, no pens are allowed. 8. All info is given in the reading text. Don't use assumptions or previous knowledge to guess answers.

11 9. Learn to recognize the different types of questions and use the appropriate strategies to answer them. 10. Most reading questions are ordered in such a way that their answers appear in a sequence in the passage text: so the answer to question 2 will come after the answer to question 1 and so on. The only exception are Matching questions eg. Match Headings, Match Information etc where it would defeat the purpose Learn to quickly identify synonyms, paraphrases (short bits of sentences that describe a word) and different parts of speech of words. You will need this to identify where to locate the answer in the passage after picking out keywords from the question. Often the words used in the question will be synonyms or paraphrases of words from the text. 12. You cannot afford more than 6-10 errors if you want to score IELTS Band 7 in Reading 13. Get into a habit of reading 1 hour each day to get comfortable with reading English words.

12 Band 7+ Strategies For IELTS Listening test (General & Academic Training) 1. First read the instructions carefully. If you are asked to answer in NOT MORE THAN THREE WORDS then make sure you do not write more than 3 words in your answer The good news is that spellings do not matter in this section so even if you spell the words incorrectly you will not be penalized. However your answer should be grammatically correct. 3. The 40 questions for the listening section are divided into several groups. Each tape recording refers to a single group of 4-5 questions. Each recording clearly mentions the questions that you need to answer based on that recording. This is a good way to keep track of which questions to focus on while listening to the tape. 4. You can hear the tape recording only once so do not get distracted even for a second while listening to the tape. It is easy to get lost in the recording. 5. You have 20 seconds to look at the questions before the tape recording starts. Use this time to look at all the questions in the group and become familiar with them. 6. Underline keywords in the question so that you can lookout for them when you hear the recording.

13 7. Answer as you listen. Write your answers on the question paper. You will have 10 minutes at the end to transfer these to the answer sheet. 8. Questions follow the sequence of the tape recording. If you find that you haven't heard the answer to a question for a long time then you have probably missed it. Quickly move to the next question Focus on any specific information that is being told. Usually this related to one of the answers. For ex. "My address is 10 Downing Street". 10. If a word is being spelled it is usually a good indication that it is an answer to a question. For ex. "My name is spelled M-K-E-R-E". 11. Watch out for sudden change in the volume and pitch of the speakers. This is a good indication that it relates to an answer to a question. 12. Watch out for U-turns in the recording. For example the speaker might say one thing and then a few sentences later they may say the exact opposite. Remember that the last information is correct. For ex. "I will see you on Tuesday... Oh no! I'm busy on Tuesday lets make it Saturday." 13. Watch out for generalizations. You might hear the speaker first give a list of things and then says them all in one word. For ex. I like 'Shrek', 'Finding Nemo' and 'Ice Age' animation movies are my thing". If the question is What kind of movies the correct answer is animation and not Shrek, Finding Nemo or Ice Age. 14. Copy answers to the answer sheet smartly. 15. Write your answers in pencil only. Pens are not allowed.

14 This list is constantly evolving and I keep adding more 14 strategies based on feedback from my past students who have achieved Band 8 & 9 in IELTS. Study these strategies along with IELTS Twenty20 Course lessons every day the week before your IELTS exam so that they become second nature to you and you will surely ace the IELTS test If you have any questions about any of these strategies, feel free to contact me on and I m happy to help. Good luck with your IELTS test and make sure you update me with your results. Atul Pandey Founder IELTS Online Practice - Like us on Facebook Wisekangaroo - Like us on Facebook Sydney, Australia

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